Hello Friends
Are the political fights and feuds splitting us further apart keeping you up at night?
Sorry about that.
And I’m here to help - in the very least to give you late night reading material to map how we got here - and learn about what can help bring us closer together.
🚩Welcome - and welcome back - to this year-long conversation, exploring the Iron Age riddle that is still impacting our contemporary complicated reality of deepening divides:
🚩Why is the Jewish community so divided, torn over core ideological issues?
🚩When did this feud begin —how did we get here - and what can we do about it?
In this online course we explore the radical idea that we were born this way.
And so was the Bible that defines our story.
🚩 In today’s weekly mailer I’ll recap the big picture of this journey - now in its fifth month - with a teaser towards our next monthly LIVE LEARN session on May 17 + and how you too can join us, adding your voice to the conversation.
(you can scroll down to read this info)
So what’s the story the schism and why does this mostly lesser known history matter?
Knowledge is power and power is change.
Knowing our origins of dispute is one critical way to work towards creation of common ground - while also respecting each other’s viewpoints - and lifting up nuanced narratives, and the dignity of differences.
Take German Jewry - for instance.
Last week I spent a few days in Germany, at the annual Limmud Conference which bought together 400+ of Germany’s estimated 200,000 Jews, including others of other faiths who love and live with them.
All ages were represented with multiple sessions and services offered very different options to the diverse audience.
But the excited people gathered did not represent the full spectrum and diversity of Jewish communities who call Germany home today.
Notably missing were the Orthodox and Ultra Orthodox communities, who largely avoid this conference that celebrates pluralism, includes prayers by all denominations, and even invites teachers like me - an openly gay rabbi as a featured speaker.
During the gathering I presented a session on the rising violence of Jewish settlers in the West Bank and the future of the peace process, as well as a panel with a leading Conservative rabbi on responses to the rising reality of intermarriage.
Both of these sessions resulted in important conversations, debated and disagreements - mostly respectful and hopefully helpful. Overall what this conference showcased was the way we come together - and the ways we really don’t.
While there’s nothing new here - and while German Jews have had heated debates over identity for over 1,000 years - what’s telling here is that this split stands for a much bigger and longer legacy.
With so much violence and hatred among us and against us at this time - making sense of this schism story seems more urgent than ever.
Divides among Jews over how to live our Jewish lives and which values to prioritize or devalue have always been part of our story.
How did we get here? Why does it matter?
Now more than ever, as bitter battles rage within Israel, where I am writing from right now, and as across Jewish communities worldwide difference of opinions split families and congregations apart - we must pay attention to the textures of our feuds and the fusions that will help us flourish.
That’s what this year-long exploration is all about.
Many scholars suggest that it all began with the ancient rift between the two kingdoms that became the Jewish nation and eventually also birthed the bible.
The Kingdom of Judah in the south and the Kingdom of Israel in the north were not always siblings or allies and their stories - our story - reveals the origins of the deep schism that hurts us now.
The north included ten tribes. The south - two. They existed alongside each other for two centuries, both eventually demolished by local empires - Assyria conquering Israel and exiling the ten tribes, and later Babylon destroying Judah and exiling the remaining two tribes of Judah.
The survivors wrote the bible —a genius was to survive without sovereignty - composed from the POV of the Judean kingdom’s ideologies which gave us their identity - Judeans, or later - Jews.
But what was the legacy of the earlier and larger Kingdom of Israel about and how is it different than the viewpoints of the Kingdom of Judah that rewrote history and wrote the book?
On my way to Limmud I stopped in Frankfurt to honor the graves of my ancestors, and to stop by the tombstone of the founder of the Neo-Orthodoxy movement which would become the Modern Orthodox world in which I was raised.
The Jüdischer Friedhof Battonnstraße - Old Jewish Cemetery on Battonnstrasse is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Frankfurt, and one of the oldest in Europe and the world - with burials dating back to 1272. (Photo: Amichai Lau-Lavie)
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a prolific 19th century Jewish-German religious leader, writer and interpreter of Scripture wrote this about the reason for the lasting rift between the two Jewish viewpoints:
“The ten tribes of Israel sought a life based on the ‘now,’ on political expediency. The two tribes of Judah sought a life based on the ‘eternal.’ This is the constant struggle of the Jew in the Diaspora.”
Hirsch could not have imagined the future of the Jewish state, yet in many ways his commentary also speaks to this moment of tensions between ‘now’ and ‘eternal’ not just for Diaspora Jewry but also among Israelis - as well as between Zionists and Anti Zionists, Religious and Secular, all over the world.
We are both the Jews of now and the Jews of always.
Where are you — where are we - on this spectrum of priorities?
At our next session, on May 17th, we’ll explore a tragic biblical story that may shed some light on this history and help us reflect on similar tensions that highlight our identities, agendas and choices.
What really happened with the Golden Calf?
How can understanding this faith-based fiasco, the first violent civil-religious war among the Jewish people help us deal - and heal?
Join me on Sunday, May 17th, to go deeper.
Just ahead of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot on which we celebrate the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai - this story about what happened at the foot of the sacred mountain reveals an astonishing history with much to teach us today about the real meaning of the feuds that fuel our fears and fury.
Hint? It’s not just about an idol. It’s about two different ways of being Jewish - and human - in the world.
Want to prep ahead?
I invite you to check out this hour-long Zoom talk that I gave some months ago:
Why the Golden Calf Riot Matters More - Now.
The LIVE LEARN session on May 17 welcomes Paid Subscribers - as one way of thanking you, generous supporters, for enabling me to do this research and work with tech support to deliver this blog series.
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It really does mean a lot and would be very helpful.
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🚩 Next LIVE Session: Sunday 5/17/26 @ 2 PM (ET)
More info on the course:
Judaism: Born Divided Landing Page
If you have questions or issues with subscriptions or renewal please email us here:
Judaismborndivided@gmail.com
Now, and Always - I wish us all the good will to handle and contain complex realities, with respect and love, honoring our history of dialogue and debate for the sake of better lives - for all.
Wishing us us all kinder days, peace and justice - everywhere
Shabbat Shalom - Peaceful Sabbath
Amichai